European railway operators revised their timetables on 15 December 2019 for the coming year. Mark Dudgeon, the Blue Guides rail correspondent, highlights some of the main changes to international services:

Night services

The nadir for overnight train services in Europe came three years ago when SNCF, the French national operator, reduced its overnight services to a bare minimum and Deutsche Bahn, the German national rail operator, withdrew all of its sleeper services, citing decreasing passenger numbers and increasing losses. Such decisions now seem to have been misguided. Austrian Federal Railways (OeBB) took over several of DB’s services and has made a success of it under the Nightjet brand. OeBB announced in October 2019 that bookings on both its regular seated and sleeper night trains were up 11 per cent year-on-year, and it plans to introduce a fleet of new trains in 2022 with en-suite sleeping compartments, and sleeping pods replacing the traditional couchettes.

Other rail operators, noting the growth in international rail travel, and the increasing awareness of the need for more sustainable travel modes, are looking at investing in night train services. Swiss Federal Railways has indicated that it is seeking to expand capacity on the night services between Switzerland and Germany and from Zurich to Prague. In Sweden, the government has invested in a feasibility study for the introduction of international night trains between Stockholm and several European cities, whilst in Scotland, the government is looking into starting an overnight train service from Glasgow and Edinburgh through Inverness and along the Far North line to Thurso, where it would connect with the ferry to Orkney.

In the immediate future, the new timetable sees the reintroduction of a night train service between Vienna and Brussels. On Wednesdays and Sundays from 19 January 2020, the existing Vienna/Innsbruck – Cologne – Dusseldorf will instead operate its final section between Cologne and Brussels. Departure from Vienna will be at 20:38, with arrival in Brussels Midi station at 10:55 the following morning. In the reverse direction, trains will depart Brussels at 18:04 on Mondays and Thursdays, with arrival in Vienna at 08:27 on Tuesdays and Fridays. It will be possible to travel between London and Vienna with only one change of train: connecting Eurostar services – with a cushion of about two hours in Brussels in each direction – will arrive at London St Pancras at 14:05 and depart from London for Brussels at 12:58.

Further expansion of this service will come in December 2020, when it is planned to increase the frequency of the Vienna – Brussels night train to daily operation, with a portion of this train going forward to Amsterdam, thus reintroducing night trains to the Netherlands after a gap of several years.

Western Europe

OeBB continues to expand coverage of its Railjet services. A new service will connect Vienna and Bolzano in the Italian province of Alto Adige/South Tyrol. It has been many years since the two cities were connected by direct trains, and then only by a seasonal service.

From June 2020, there will be an additional Railjet service from Berlin via Prague to Vienna and Graz. This will complement the existing Berlin – Nuremberg – Vienna ICE service.

TGV Lyria trains operating between Paris and Switzerland will see a boost in capacity by more than 25% by using exclusively double-deck trains. Furthermore, the introduction of ICE-4 trainsets to replace the existing ICE-1 sets will represent a 20% increase in capacity on services between Switzerland, Frankfurt and Berlin. SBB Swiss Federal Railways has announced that Switzerland has seen a 10% increase in international passenger traffic year-on-year for the first nine months of 2019.

The short but strategically important cross-border line between Geneva and Annemasse (in France) has opened. Services over the line are branded Léman Express and many trains will run onwards in France to Evian-les-Bains and Annecy.

In rather sad news for aficionados of train-ferry operations, one of the few remaining such services in Europe has ceased. In a highly-efficient arrangement, Hamburg to Copenhagen trains used to board the vehicle ferry between Puttgarden in Germany and Rødby in Denmark, the trains fitting very snugly onto the ferry’s vehicle deck alongside coaches and cars. They will now take the longer route northwards through Jutland, then turning eastwards across the Great Belt Fixed Link. However, the journey time will be slightly reduced.

Central and eastern Europe

• The Vienna – Budapest – Cluj Napoca (EC Transilvania) train will also convey through coaches to another Romanian city, Satu Mare. These coaches will be detached from the Transilvania at Püspökladány in Hungary.

• EC Báthory which previously connected Budapest and Warsaw is extended to Terespol on the border between Poland and Belarus. At Bohumin in the Czech Republic, a sleeping car to the Belarusian capital, Minsk, will be attached.

• The niche private operator Leo Express, which operates trains between Prague, Ostrava, Kosice and Krakow will introduce a train from Prague to the Polish city of Wroclaw on three days a week. Leo Express trains consist of three classes: economy, business and the excellent 6-seat premium zone. It’s a shame that its trains between the major tourist centres of Prague and Krakow operate only twice weekly and at rather unsocial hours: arrival at Krakow is at 22:50 and the return departure to Prague at – unfortunately – 04:29.

MAV Hungarian railways have recently reintroduced restaurant cars on its Eurocity services between Budapest and Vienna and Budapest and Romania; a welcome enhancement, but think comfort food rather than haute cuisine.

And finally …..

Subject to government approval, Eurostar will operate through services from Amsterdam to London from 31 March 2020. The London to Amsterdam service started in spring 2018, but the return services – bafflingly – ended at Brussels with passengers having to go through the normal check-in and security procedures before catching the next Eurostar to London. Departures from Amsterdam Centraal are provisionally planned for 07:47, 13:46 and 18:47 arriving at London St Pancras at 10:57, 16:57 and 21:57 – a journey time of just over 4 hours. It must be emphasised that the British and Dutch governments have to sign the relevant treaty before the service can go ahead.

European railway operators revised their timetables on 15 December 2019 for the coming year. Mark Dudgeon, the Blue Guides rail correspondent, highlights some of the main changes to international services:

Night services

The nadir for overnight train services in Europe came three years ago when SNCF, the French national operator, reduced its overnight services to a bare minimum and Deutsche Bahn, the German national rail operator, withdrew all of its sleeper services, citing decreasing passenger numbers and increasing losses. Such decisions now seem to have been misguided. Austrian Federal Railways (OeBB) took over several of DB’s services and has made a success of it under the Nightjet brand. OeBB announced in October 2019 that bookings on both its regular seated and sleeper night trains were up 11 per cent year-on-year, and it plans to introduce a fleet of new trains in 2022 with en-suite sleeping compartments, and sleeping pods replacing the traditional couchettes.

Other rail operators, noting the growth in international rail travel, and the increasing awareness of the need for more sustainable travel modes, are looking at investing in night train services. Swiss Federal Railways has indicated that it is seeking to expand capacity on the night services between Switzerland and Germany and from Zurich to Prague. In Sweden, the government has invested in a feasibility study for the introduction of international night trains between Stockholm and several European cities, whilst in Scotland, the government is looking into starting an overnight train service from Glasgow and Edinburgh through Inverness and along the Far North line to Thurso, where it would connect with the ferry to Orkney.

In the immediate future, the new timetable sees the reintroduction of a night train service between Vienna and Brussels. On Wednesdays and Sundays from 19 January 2020, the existing Vienna/Innsbruck – Cologne – Dusseldorf will instead operate its final section between Cologne and Brussels. Departure from Vienna will be at 20:38, with arrival in Brussels Midi station at 10:55 the following morning. In the reverse direction, trains will depart Brussels at 18:04 on Mondays and Thursdays, with arrival in Vienna at 08:27 on Tuesdays and Fridays. It will be possible to travel between London and Vienna with only one change of train: connecting Eurostar services – with a cushion of about two hours in Brussels in each direction – will arrive at London St Pancras at 14:05 and depart from London for Brussels at 12:58.

Further expansion of this service will come in December 2020, when it is planned to increase the frequency of the Vienna – Brussels night train to daily operation, with a portion of this train going forward to Amsterdam, thus reintroducing night trains to the Netherlands after a gap of several years.

Western Europe

OeBB continues to expand coverage of its Railjet services. A new service will connect Vienna and Bolzano in the Italian province of Alto Adige/South Tyrol. It has been many years since the two cities were connected by direct trains, and then only by a seasonal service.

From June 2020, there will be an additional Railjet service from Berlin via Prague to Vienna and Graz. This will complement the existing Berlin – Nuremberg – Vienna ICE service.

TGV Lyria trains operating between Paris and Switzerland will see a boost in capacity by more than 25% by using exclusively double-deck trains. Furthermore, the introduction of ICE-4 trainsets to replace the existing ICE-1 sets will represent a 20% increase in capacity on services between Switzerland, Frankfurt and Berlin. SBB Swiss Federal Railways has announced that Switzerland has seen a 10% increase in international passenger traffic year-on-year for the first nine months of 2019.

The short but strategically important cross-border line between Geneva and Annemasse (in France) has opened. Services over the line are branded Léman Express and many trains will run onwards in France to Evian-les-Bains and Annecy.

In rather sad news for aficionados of train-ferry operations, one of the few remaining such services in Europe has ceased. In a highly-efficient arrangement, Hamburg to Copenhagen trains used to board the vehicle ferry between Puttgarden in Germany and Rødby in Denmark, the trains fitting very snugly onto the ferry’s vehicle deck alongside coaches and cars. They will now take the longer route northwards through Jutland, then turning eastwards across the Great Belt Fixed Link. However, the journey time will be slightly reduced.

Central and eastern Europe

• The Vienna – Budapest – Cluj Napoca (EC Transilvania) train will also convey through coaches to another Romanian city, Satu Mare. These coaches will be detached from the Transilvania at Püspökladány in Hungary.

• EC Báthory which previously connected Budapest and Warsaw is extended to Terespol on the border between Poland and Belarus. At Bohumin in the Czech Republic, a sleeping car to the Belarusian capital, Minsk, will be attached.

• The niche private operator Leo Express, which operates trains between Prague, Ostrava, Kosice and Krakow will introduce a train from Prague to the Polish city of Wroclaw on three days a week. Leo Express trains consist of three classes: economy, business and the excellent 6-seat premium zone. It’s a shame that its trains between the major tourist centres of Prague and Krakow operate only twice weekly and at rather unsocial hours: arrival at Krakow is at 22:50 and the return departure to Prague at – unfortunately – 04:29.

MAV Hungarian railways have recently reintroduced restaurant cars on its Eurocity services between Budapest and Vienna and Budapest and Romania; a welcome enhancement, but think comfort food rather than haute cuisine.

And finally …..

Subject to government approval, Eurostar will operate through services from Amsterdam to London from 31 March 2020. The London to Amsterdam service started in spring 2018, but the return services – bafflingly – ended at Brussels with passengers having to go through the normal check-in and security procedures before catching the next Eurostar to London. Departures from Amsterdam Centraal are provisionally planned for 07:47, 13:46 and 18:47 arriving at London St Pancras at 10:57, 16:57 and 21:57 – a journey time of just over 4 hours. It must be emphasised that the British and Dutch governments have to sign the relevant treaty before the service can go ahead.

European railways revise their timetables for the coming year on 10th December 2017. Mark Dudgeon, the Blue Guides rail correspondent, highlights some of the main changes to international services.

Night services
Night services in Europe have suffered a cull over the last few years, with several rail operators considering them to be no longer financially viable, especially where rolling stock was reaching the end of its useful life and major investment would be required to keep services running.

This trend was bucked somewhat last year when OeBB, the national Austrian operator, set up its new brand, Nightjet, to run its own domestic and international services with refurbished coaches, and at the same time take over several CityNightLine services, when its owner, Deutsche Bahn, decided to exit the night train market. Initial signs from OeBB regarding financial results have been encouraging.

Nevertheless, the timetable change sees further night train losses:
• The Metropol service between Budapest and Berlin is withdrawn. A night service will still operate between Budapest and Prague, but with an arrival time in Prague at about 6am, and a departure southbound from Prague at midnight, many passengers may find the times inconvenient. Blue Guides recommends taking one of the several day trains instead, and enjoying a meal in one of the bustling and reasonably-priced Czech restaurant cars.

• The night train from Paris to Nice is finally withdrawn. The forlorn successor to the famous Train Bleu – which started running in 1886 – has in recent years been reduced to offering couchettes and seats only. After 130 years, the history of night trains between Paris and the Riviera draws to a close.

There is other mixed news for night services:
• The Budapest – Lviv – Kiev sleeper will be extended to and from Vienna; but at the same time the through Prague – Kiev cars will cease to operate: connections will be available at Kosice instead.

• The Budapest, Vienna and Prague – Krakow service will be combined with the service from those three capitals to Warsaw, operating via Krakow to Warsaw and no longer serving Katowice.

• The Zurich – Berlin – HamburgNightjet service will now separate into two portions (one to Berlin and one to Hamburg) en route, meaning an earlier arrival in, and later departure from, Hamburg.

Trans-Alpine services
There is some good news for international services across the Alps. In the west, there is a new Eurocity service from Frankfurt to Milan, with a departure close to 08:00 from Frankfurt and an arrival at Milano Centrale just after 15:30. In Germany, this train will also have a new designation: Eurocity Express (ECE). Northbound, the existing late-morning departure from Milan to Basel will be extended to Frankfurt, arriving at around 19:00.

Not strictly trans-Alpine – there is not such good news further south. Thello trains operating from Milan to Marseille will not operate between Nice and Marseille (in both directions) on most days. Additionally, the Geneva – Marseille – Nice TGV will terminate and start from Marseille.

In the east, there is a welcome additional service each way between Vienna and Venice. Currently, one trainset operates a round-trip each way, leaving Vienna at 06:35 and arriving back at 23:35. These timings make it impossible for same-day connections further afield, and are pretty horrible even if you are starting or finishing your journey in the Vienna area itself. There will now be an additional service departing Wien Hauptbahnhof at 12:25, and arriving at Venezia Santa Lucia at 20:05. In the reverse direction the additional train will leave Venice at 09:55 and arrive in Vienna at 17:35. These new services will allow same-day connections to and from, for example, Budapest and Prague. However, since the advertised departure from Budapest (09:40) to connect with the 12:25 departure from Vienna allows only a 4-minute transfer time at Wien Hauptbahnhof, Blue Guides recommends taking the train an hour earlier from Budapest to reduce the risk of a missed connection. Both the daily services between Vienna and Venice will be operated by Railjet trainsets.

Germany and Central Europe
• A major new high-speed line in Germany will mean a significant improvement in train times for Munich to Berlin journeys. The fastest trains on this route will now take a smidgen under 4 hours – more than 2 hours shorter than at present.

• Track improvements between Würzburg and Aschaffenburg will mean reductions in Vienna-Frankfurt ICE journey times of around 25 minutes.

• Services between Prague, Regensburg and Munich will be nearly doubled to provide a two-hourly-interval daytime service.

• The Prague – Bohumin service, which was extended in the summer to Krakow as EC Cracovia, proved popular and will now operate between Prague and Krakow throughout the year.

• Daytime trains between Budapest and Prague will be accelerated by 15 minutes: not because of any track improvements, but because they will operate on the more direct line to Nyugati station in Budapest (as they used to do until about twelve years ago) rather than to Keleti station. Whilst this routing avoids the slow around-the-houses crawl in Budapest, it does mean the end of same-station connections further afield to eastern and southern Hungary, Romania and Serbia.

• Westbahn, the private Austrian operator, will introduce new services between Wien Hauptbahnhof and Salzburg, providing more competition with OeBB, the traditional national operator. Westbahn currently only operates, appropriately, from the Westbahnhof.

…. and finally
Thello (operating trains on the routes Paris – Brussels – Amsterdam or Cologne) and TGV Lyria (Paris – Switzerland) will offer three service classes rather than the current two. The “middle” class will include a first-class seat but no complimentary food and drink. This will inevitably mean that Interrail and Eurail passholders paying the 1st class pass supplement will no longer receive the complimentary catering.

There is still no confirmed news on the commencement of the London – Brussels – Amsterdam Eurostar service, although various sources indicate a probable spring 2018 start date with two round-trip services daily. Blue Guides will keep you posted.